A free, grassroots summer basketball league has transformed Cleveland's once crime-ridden Jefferson Park with focus on youth mentoring and character assessments.
CLEVELAND — Though we’ve officially said bye to summer, its mark of violence and death in Cleveland bares weight on the victims, their families, and communities. Yet, as police shortages, mental health demands, and stretched resources arguably continue to fuel the violent cycle, cities like Lakewood and Avon have turned to their public parks – stripping basketball hoops to curb crime, and the youth perceived to be involved.
“It puts me in like a good mood, like seeing everyone smile when I come up here, everyone just hooping, just having fun,” said league player Caden Hill. “You didn’t know whether you were going to leave this park when you walked in it,” said Rich Austin, Head of Basketball Operations of Revolutionary Minds Summer League.
Instead, Kazy turned to the community. As he explained, “Everybody kind of came together and said, what are we going to do?”With a new game plan, led by Austin, came a shot at redemption to take back Jefferson Park through the free “Revolutionary Minds” summer basketball league, which helped pivot from pickup games to organized ball.Austin, who is a former basketball professional turned Euclid educator, came up with the league suggestion and now runs the league.
“Hearing from the residents, they're very apprehensive the first year, but by the end of the first year, residents were actually coming over and watching games,” Kazy said. “Because it's run by the kids in the neighborhood. They take more ownership of it. It's a more successful program.”
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